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Beckwith Fellows Leadership Program

Providing Strategic Leadership Training

Now in it’s fourth year, the Beckwith Fellows Leadership Program was established to help hospitals and health systems harness the ingenuity, creativity, and vision of potential clinical leaders who are already in the organization.

The program consists of a year-long field-tested curriculum, with course work based on five key areas of leadership development in health care:

• Meeting future leadership challenges and driving change. UPMC is consistently recognized by U.S. News & World Report in the magazine's “best of the best” rankings, underscoring its reputation as a health care pioneer.
• Using financial tools to maximize performance and productivity on departmental and organizational levels. In recent years, UPMC has used these tools to reduce costs by more than $10 million without layoffs.
• Using human resources skills to communicate effectively at all levels of the organization and to select the best employees. UPMC’s nursing vacancy rate is well below the national average.
• Anticipating how future medical advances and clinical practice changes will create opportunities for improvement. Many of the world’s best medical experts and researchers practice at UPMC.
• Harnessing the power of information technology and recognizing its impact on clinical, financial, and leadership decision-making. UPMC is successfully integrating patient information into a common electronic health record across its 20 hospitals.

Classes are kept small — 25 participants at a maximum — so each Fellow receives a high level of individualized attention.

All Beckwith Fellows begin the program with a five day symposium at the University of Pittsburgh that centers on the five key developmental areas presented in an intellectually stimulating environment.

Faculty for the program have extensive experience and the ability to provide real-life application of the material. Each training module uses lectures, case studies, tools and strategies to help participants learn the necessary skills. Fellows leave the symposium with tools, skills, and information they can put into practice immediately.

All Beckwith Fellows complete a leadership assessment prior to beginning the program. The assessment helps participants identify their strengths and weaknesses in specific leadership competencies and create a developmental plan for the year.

In addition to participating in course work, each Fellow is required to complete a year-long project that builds upon knowledge gained at the symposium and makes a meaningful contribution to health care.

In the past, Fellows have completed projects that have significantly improved patient satisfaction, staff recruitment and retention, work redesign, electronic health information systems, and other key areas.

At the University of Pittsburgh Medcial Center, Beckwith Fellows projects have shown actual savings for UPMC in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, and potential savings in the millions — illustrating how this progressive leadership program can make an impact at your hospital or health system.